One-in-five females has been victim of a sexual offence

One in five females said they had been the victim of a sexual offence since the age of 16.

The Official Statistics bulletin produced by statisticians in the Ministry of Justice, Home Office and the Office for National Statistics brings together, for the first time, a range of official statistics from across the crime and criminal justice system, providing an overview of sexual offending in England and Wales. The report released Wednesday is structured to highlight: the victim experience; the police role in recording and detecting the crimes; how the various criminal justice agencies deal with an offender once identified; and the criminal histories of sex offenders.

New figures reveal one in 40 women - a total of 404,000 - have been the victim of a sex offence in the last year.

This includes one in 200 women who have been subjected to the most serious offences, including rape, according to the most detailed analysis of stats by the Ministry of Justice.
The report estimates there are up to 517,000 sex offences a year - including as many as 95,000 rapes.

But shockingly only 5,620 sex offenders - including 1,070 rapists  were actually convicted.

The report also reveals 1,500 sex offenders were given cautions in 2011 - including 19 who were cautioned for rape.

Justice minister Jeremy Wright said: “All sexual offences are abhorrent.

“Very tough sentences are available to the courts for those who commit the most serious offences including a new mandatory life sentence which we have introduced for anyone convicted of a second very serious sexual or violent crime.

“We are already looking into how police cautions are being used. We shouldn’t remove the right for police officers to exercise discretion but the public are right to expect that people who commit serious crimes will be brought before a court.”